“Hmm… nothing like a cup of coffee on a snowy day after hours of hard work.” Jason sipped his cup of coffee and sighed contentedly.

He was in a good mood. His game was doing really well on Steam.

Jason Fassbender, age 38, is an indie game developer and has been one for the last 22 years. Well, he did work in a software firm for a few years after he got married, but left his job after he got divorced.

Currently, he was pretty satisfied with his current life. After he got divorced, he sold almost all of his remaining belongings (except his computer and other necessary electronic components of course,) and then bought a camper van. Now his ‘retired’ life is all about making games, occasionally doing streams and YouTube videos, regularly hitting the gyms and travelling around. He had never felt this much freedom.

He started humming the song that was being played in the background.

 

“Just a small town girl

Livin' in a lonely world

She took the midnight train goin' anywhere…”

 

He grimaced when his phone started ringing. He knew who the caller was. It was Annessa, his current girlfriend.

“...Hey Ann.”

“Jason.”

“You needed something?”

“Congratulations on your game. I hear it's doing pretty well.”

“Um… thanks.”

“...So… umm, you really don’t want to open a company? You are capable enough to have your own firm, you know? Why are you so reluctant about this?”

“Ann, I’ve already told you that I am not the type of guy to bind myself with unnecessary responsibilities? A company means I’ll have to deal with a lot of things. A lot.”

“Yeah, maybe? But you can also take on bigger projects, right? You can do a lot better! My parents are really asking me about you and I don’t want to tell them that you… uh… make video games and live in a camper van!”

“...Then don’t? When we started dating, you said that my life was adventurous and it excited you, and now you are what? Ashamed of my lifestyle? And why do you have to tell your parents about me anyway? I thought I made it pretty clear when we started dating that we will be just casual about it and won’t take it that far?”

“Yeah we did… but…”

“But what? Why are we having this conversation then right now?”

“Jason, don’t you feel anything special between us? Even a little? Am I—”

“Yes, you are the only one who feels that way. I made myself pretty clear that we won’t be dating long term, let alone getting married.”

“But I thought—”

“—that I might change my mind later on? I told you that I am a man of my words, Ann. Maybe this is time Ann.”

“...Time? For what?” Annessa’s voice was shaking on the other side, she knew what the next conversation was about.

“Maybe it's time we stopped seeing each other.”

There was silence on the other side for a few seconds. Then she spoke.

“...You can’t do this to me!”

“I am staying true to my words, Ann. You are the one who is expecting something from me I cannot give you. Sorry Ann, but this is goodbye.”

“NO! YOU CANNOT ABANDON ME AND MY CHILD LIKE THIS?!!”

“...Child?”

“YEAH CHILD! YOUR FUCKING CHILD! YOU MADE ME FUCKING PREGNANT! AND NOW YOU WANT TO LEAVE?!! WITHOUT TAKING ANY RESPONSIBILITY LIKE A COWARD?!!!”

“...I thought you said you took pills regularly.”

“I—I forgot. You know I was under a lot of stress recently! Stress that you gave me with your indecisions!!!”

“Ann… I’m sorry.”

“You better be! Now you—”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you that I had a vasectomy eight years ago.”

“...”

Jason enjoyed the silence this time with a grin on his face. He could imagine her opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish.

“J-Jason, I—”

He cut off the call and switched the phone to silent mode. Then he sighed.

“Why do I have such shitty luck with women?”

Jason was not nihilistic enough to say that all women are like this. But the ones he had met so far? Almost one-third of them tried the same trick on him. Some lied about getting pregnant, and some… well, though he would be a good ‘father.’

Like his ex-wife. After five years of their marriage, he one day discovered that his wife was having an affair with one of her coworkers for at least a year. Then he confronted her about it, and divorce ensued.

Fortunately, he did not have to be the one to pay alimony as his wife clearly was the one with more income. She was furious about paying alimony for some reason and tried to prove in the court that he was a wife beater. It took quite a few years and the house he owned to prove his innocence.

He made a vow to himself after that. No more marriage or long term relationships.

Jason finished his mug of coffee. It was pointless to dwell on the past. At this moment he simply wanted to revel in the success of the game he made.

He started reading the reviews on his latest game.

Daisy’s Adventure.

It was a dungeon crawling 2D game where you played as Princess Daisy, the princess of a kingdom that fell to the demon invasion. The hero, who was the hope of the world, got killed by the demon king and doomed the world. Her younger sister, who was the saintess with the power to seal the demon king, got kidnapped. Now it was up to her to save her sister... somehow.

People liked it. His game was being really praised for having a good storyline and character development and not for making her a Mary Sue. Some people, however, did complain that the music was not really up to the mark, or that the scenes would have been more impactful if the music was done better.

In his defense (definitely not an excuse), he did not have anything except his guitar in his camper van. He even had to borrow some music instruments and other equipment from his friends. He wanted to do so much more with the music, but couldn’t. He did not have enough money to hire a professional either.

Well, if he managed to earn a good amount of money this time, maybe he’d consider getting another cheap apartment again? He would probably find a cheap one in the countryside. He was not the type to live in luxury anyway, so he was not that much attached to a big city or anything.

He saw the phone screen light up again. This time, however, he grinned after seeing the name of the caller.

“Hey, Drew.”

“Hey, Jason! You’re free tonight? We are having a party for Tyrone’s birthday at the usual place. Wanna come?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be there in an hour.”

“Cool. See you there, then.”

“Okay. Bye.”

Well, he had to buy something as a gift, right?

“Tyrone, huh… I wonder what should be an appropriate gift for him. Some nice books? Protein powder? …A packet of magnum condoms?” Well, he’d think about it on the way.

 

---

 

In the end, he decided on protein powder. He simply found a suitable parking place for his camper van and walked towards the club he and his friends usually hang out in with the gift in his hand.

He was being extremely careful not to slip in the snow on the stairs to the main gate of the clubhouse. It was cold outside his van. He just wanted to get inside the club as soon as possible.

As he was about to enter the club through the main door, someone called him from behind. He turned and saw Annessa standing. She looked… tense.

“Annessa.” Jason purposely did not call her Ann this time.

“Jason. I—I had to talk with you. I called you but you weren’t picking up.”

“I thought I made myself completely clear to you, Annessa.” She looked like she would start crying at any moment.

“Look, Jason… the thing I said, that—”

“—was a lie, is that what you want to say? Am I supposed to believe you?” Even if the pregnancy was a lie, Jason didn’t want to lose this chance to finally get rid of her.

“I was just scared! I didn’t want to lose you! I—”

“Ann, that’s enough. If we keep going at it, things will really fall apart between us one way or another. Also, why do you want to be with me anyway? I’ve already told you that I have no intention of settling down. And I mean it. You can do much better in your life, Ann. I will not be a good father to your child. Hell, I won’t be a good father to any child.”

“Jason, I swear to you that was a—”

“Even if that was a lie, you do want to have children someday, right?”

Annessa bit her lips. Jason did his best impression of a sad smile.

“I will never be able to give you children, Ann. So just give up on me. You are a sweet girl, Ann. You can do much better.”

‘Yeah, you can. So just leave me alone.’ He did not say it out loud. His will to engage even in short term relationships was going down every year. In fact, this might actually be his last relationship. He has had enough, and it was damn cold.

“We are celebrating Tyrone’s birthday inside. If you want you may join.”

‘And find someone else and release me!’ Jason turned and started to climb the stairs again. Damn they were slippery!

“Jason wait—” Annessa ran upstairs and grabbed his jacket. And then she slipped.

“Aaah!!!” Jason felt a pull from behind, as well as a scream. Thanks to the pull, he started to slip as well. He tried to grab the railing, and his hands slipped as well.

They both were about to fall on their backs, with Annessa on the bottom.

Jason reflexively embraced Annessa and rotated in mid air.

“Ugh… what… Jason?” Annessa felt something warm and liquid in his hand. She brought her hand in front of her eyes.

It was blood.

“…Jason?”

She looked at the man who saved her with horror in her eyes.

Jason was lying down without any motion, with blood coming out of his skull. He must have gotten hit somewhere in the head real bad.

“Jason! Jason! Are you okay?! Answer me!!!” Ann started shaking him violently. Two bouncers heard the commotion and ran towards them.

Jason’s eyes started getting hazier every moment. He could feel his body getting colder, and everything getting blurry and darker.

He saw Annessa’s crying face. He tried to say something, but he couldn’t move his mouth. So he only said it in his mind.

‘Fucking chivalry…’

And then everything went dark.

 

Jason Fassbender, 38, born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan; took his final breath that night.

 

---

 

“ARE YOU CRAZYYY!!!!!!” Lee Sujin heard her friend Nam Jiyeon scream, while her other friend Kim Chunja was sobbing, her makeup ruined.

“I—I thought he truly loved me…”

“So you just have him ten fucking million won just because he asked?!! ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE!!!” Nam Jiyeon usually was not the type to use bad words, that told everyone just how pissed off she was.

Well, anyone would, if they also heard what her cute naive idiot of a friend did. Kim Chunja’s boyfriend, who said that he was trying to start a business and needed a lot of money, and offered sweet nothings to her about buying a house and having a family— just vanished after this idiot gave him ten million won just like that.

Then she learned that she was not the only one that got swindled by that guy. Other than her, that guy also had three more girlfriends, and they all suffered the same fate.

Nam Jiyeon grabbed her head in frustration. How could there be so many love-blind idiots in such close proximity?!!

Lee Sujin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. That was… almost one and a half year’s worth of her net income, if you included the expenses and the debts she had to pay. And this girl, Kim Chunja, just gave it away?

She could have paid off at least one-tenth of her and her family’s remaining debts with that much money!!!

...To be honest, she of all people did not have the right to call out Kim Chunja for the blunder she made. She had also squandered her—well, her family’s hard earned money before.

Thirty million. That was the amount of debt her family had accumulated because of her selfish desire of becoming a kpop idol.

Which she never managed to become, because she was not talented enough.

Did the debts vanish? No.

Was her family able to pay off the debt? They could have, if his father’s business had not suffered a huge loss due to an economic bubble burst.

Sujin felt a pang in her heart when she remembered her family. She had not visited them for… 3? 4? No, it was not 4 years yet. They did not contact her either.

She wondered how Lee Doyoon was doing. She had not seen that little fella since she left her home. Her cute younger brother whom she loved.

And whom she doomed.

“Jiyeon, another glass, please.” Jiyeon said nothing and poured another glass of beer for her. Sujin gulped it down and grimaced.

“Sujin, maybe you should stop drinking.”

“Shuddup, today is my off day.” Sujin signed for another fill. Jiyeon did not pour it.

“Remember how our meetup last Sunday got cancelled due to your charge’s emergency drama scene shooting, Sujin?”

That was not something Sujin could refute. Being an idol manager, even an entry level like her, was a demanding job.

Many did envy them to be the lucky ones who worked and even got paid for being close to the stars everyone admired. A dream job. Hah! Little did they know.

Only if they knew the meager amount of hours Lee Sujin got to sleep. Or if they knew just how much of a bitch that ‘everyone’s pure maiden’ Chae Eunha was.

Or how much of a headache the star she currently was assigned to was.

Lee Sujin did not like her job, not at all.

Then why did she do it?

...Because she did not know anything else.

She had wasted ten years of her life trying to pursue her dream of becoming a star. From 14 to 24—she only studied the special curriculum designed for the idols, and nothing else. When she realized that her dream might not ever come true, the only thing she knew was the industry.

She was an idiot for not moving on sooner, like her two friends from the same trainee days—Kim Chunja, who had a knack for makeup and later on became a beautician, and Nam Jiyeon, who became a full time manager of a bar and a bartender as well.

Kim Chunja was the first one to realize that things were not working and dropped out. She might have been the smartest of the three.

But then she went and made this blunder. Gave away ten million won to some guy who said some sweet words just like that?

“Just fill the damn gla—”

Her phone rang. Sujin saw the name of the caller.

‘Fucking bitch!’

“Language.” Nam Jiyeon raised one of her eyebrows, as if saying ‘you were saying something?’ Sujin glared at her and then received the call.

“Y-yes, team leader Park—she did WHAT?!! Yes, yes! I’ll go to her and bring her to the office right away!”

Sujin put away the phone. “That stupid brat! Arrgh! Jiyeon! How much was it?”

“Two thousand.”

Sujin just handed her the money and ran for the apartment where her assigned star, Min Seoyoung was living.

Min Seoyoung, the emerging young star of Lee Moonsook Entertainment Industry (or LME in short), who originally debuted as a member of a girl’s idol group. The acting prodigy sent waves across the whole South Korea, and there were even talks about her starring in Chinese dramas.

And now, all of it was about to be ruined because of that girl’s own idiocy.

All was about to go to drains because of a stupid picture.

What picture? A picture of that girl touching her previous manager’s sleeping face with a stupid love-struck smile and deep affection in her eyes.

Now there would be a huge scandal about her (a minor) and her ex-manager (an adult) being in some sort of relationship. Even if it was just infatuation on her part, that will not be just ignored by the netizens.

The PR division was trying their best to handle the situation, and it was up to her to prepare an apology or explanation for the girl.

Sujin organized all the information inside her head while driving for the apartment. Min Seoyoung was formerly part of a 4 member girl idol group named “Stardust.” Well, she is not a member anymore, as her acting genius was discovered by the manager of the group, Sung Jinwoo; and she had to be separated from the group so her acting career could bloom.

The girl in question was really salty about it though. She really wanted to be with the group—if not for her ‘friends’, then for the super manager Sung Jinwoo, the so-called “Midas Hand”.

The golden goose with 100% success rate—be it managing, event organization, even a little bit of composing. Sujin did not know how he managed it, to be honest it was a little freaky.

There were also a lot of stupid theories around him having a contract with a devil, him being a time traveller or having the ability to see the future. Being an atheist and not a believer of supernatural stuff, Sujin thought he was just lucky, and his luck would run out one day or another.

Sujin also heard from a trusted source that there were actually fanfictions about him having future knowledge or some weird system that assists him in his ‘triumph.’ The first fanfiction actually got banned because it had the Stardust members as harem members, causing outrage amongst their fans. The BL one with the company CEO though…

Well, the fact is, the fans of the actress Seoyoung thought that the girl group was holding her back, while Stardust Crusaders (the army actually called themselves that!) complained that Min Seoyoung was the one with inferior skills in ‘idol-stuff’, and she was the one holding back the others.

She had to be separated for her own good. There was no other option.

Being Min Seoyoung’s manager for the last six months, Lee Sujin was 100% sure that she had a crush on him.

Was it wrong to have romantic feelings for someone while being a star? Sujin knew more than enough about secret relationships. Seoyoung was hardly one of them.

But the thing is, you needed to keep this sort of stuff hidden—which Seoyoung utterly failed at doing.

Sujin reached the apartment and rang the bell.

“Min Seoyoung, it’s me. Open the door.” The electronic lock opened and Sujin saw the 16 year old girl with teary eyes. Sujin wanted to say some harsh words to her, but couldn’t bring herself to do it after seeing her state. She just went to the kitchen and then came back with a cup of water.

“Are you alright now?” She handed Seoyoung the cup and they both sat on a sofa.

“Unni, I—I caused so much trouble for Jinwoo oppa…”

Sujin’s eyebrows twitched, but she said nothing to the girl. Her own career was ending, and she was worried about her crush being in trouble? Sigh, teenagers.

Well, it was the adult managers job to handle them, afterall.

“Seoyoung, listen. You do not need to worry much about it. The PR is already working on it. You just need to do a public explanation about what happened, okay? Say something like… like… there was a mosquito on manager Sung Jinwoo’s cheek, or something like he seemed pale and so you checked his body temperature and just was relieved to see it was normal or something like that?”

Sujin cupped the girl’s face in her both hands, and said with as much affection she could mutter in her voice.

“You are a talented actress, Seoyoung. You should be able to make a convincing explanation, right? For your career? ...For manager Sung Jinwoo?”

That seemed to light a fire in the girl. Seoyoung nodded.

“Okay, good then! Let us make a recording then!” Sujin pulled up her smartphone.

‘I hope I do get a raise for all this shit.’

 

---

 

“Well, that was a good one, huh? Seoyoung? Even team leader Park was satisfied, and you know how hard it is to satisfy her.”

“Un.” Sujin could see a little relief in the eyes of the young girl. If it was PR team leader Park, then there was nothing to worry about. Give her enough time and resources, and she would spin any news to any way she desired. She was scary like that.

“Now then, it’s almost dinner time. Are you hungry? Shall I cook some—wha! The whole fridge is empty?! What the hell, Seoyoung?”

Seoyoung just blushed. “I… forgot to tell you…”

Sujin’s eyebrow twitched. “Well, I’ll bring you something from downstairs. Just wait patiently, okay? Is there something you want to eat?”

“...I’ll go with you.”

“Are you sure?”

“I could use some fresh air right now.”

“...Okay then, How about the BBQ restaurant nearby?”

“Okay. Um… Unni?”

“Hm?”

“You… You have already realized it, haven’t you?”

“...” Sujin sighed. “Well, Seoyoung, you are not exactly subtle about it.”

“...Won’t you try to stop me?”

“Stop? Is it wrong to fall in love with someone? Or do you think you are the only one in your profession who has feelings for someone?”

“...”

“Well, the thing is, you do not let anyone know about this, not even your friends. In this line, you can never be sure whether the other party even considers you a friend or not, or whether they will continue to be one in the future. You can not let out your feelings even when no one is watching, because even walls have eyes and ears. That is what led to this situation, right?”

“...Un. I’ll be careful from now on.”

Sujin simply patted her head. “Well, we adults will take care of everything this time. Be careful from now on, okay?” Seoyoung nodded in affirmative.

“Let’s go now, before the restaurant closes.”

“Okay!”

Seoyoung followed Sujin as she started walking, but both of them stopped as a man walked out of the shadows.

Sujin stood in between Seoyoung and the man who was clearly approaching them, frowning at him.

“Hello there… good sir. Is there any problem?”

“How can you do this to me, Seoyoung?!” The man totally ignored her as she looked towards Sujin.

“Look sir, if you have something to say to her you can post it on twitter or send a mail to her agency, which she will receive after proper… checking. I will advise you to refrain you from approaching her, or there will be leg—”

“SHUT UP, OLD HAG!!! SEOYOUNG! HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME LIKE THAT?!!” The man, with craziness oozing out of his eyes, walked toward them.

‘Old hag?!! How dare this double chin—’

“Look, sir, I warn you—”

“Move away!” The man pushed Sujin away with full force, who crashed into a wall.

“Ow! BASTA—”

“Unni! Hey! You cannot—”

There was a loud noise. They both looked at the source.

It was a flower vase that came down from the balcony above—probably because of the impact.

It fell on Lee Sujin’s head.

She fell down like a puppet that got its string cut.

“UNNI!” Seoyoung ran towards her while the other man finally came to his senses and ran away.

Sujin’s head was bleeding, her eyes getting more and more blurry.

“Unni! Unni! Please stay awake! I—I’m calling an ambulance, don’t worry! Please don’t close your eyes—”

Seoyoung’s phone dropped from her shaking hands. It turned off.

“No! Nononono—”

“Seo...young…”

“Unni… just hold on… someone! ANYONE!!! PLEASE CALL AN AMBULANCE!!!”

Sujin knew it was pointless. Her time was up.

You know your time is up when your whole life flashes in front of your eyes. She felt a drop of tear coming out of her eyes.

‘Mom… Dad… Yoonah… Doyoon… I’m sorry…’

Her eyes started getting hazier every moment. She could feel her body getting colder, and everything getting blurry and darker.

She saw Seoyoung’s crying face. She tried to say something, but she couldn’t move her mouth. So she only said it in her mind.

‘Fucking double-chin…’

And then everything went dark.

 

Lee Sujin, 28, born and raised in Suncheon, took her final breath that night.

 

---

 

Two people, completely unrelated.

They are not even of the same ‘Earth’.

But their fates were connected together—beyond death, beyond dimensions.